1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermoplastic resin-molded article comprising a thermoplastic resin functional member fused partially to a foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin, as well as a process for producing the same. The thermoplastic molded article is preferably used mainly as an interior part in automobiles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a wide variety of articles having a thermoplastic resin member attached through fusion or adhesion to a non-foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin have been known.
However, such conventional articles have the problem of significant variability of the drawing strength of the thermoplastic resin member from the non-foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin.
The object of the present invention is to provide a thermoplastic resin-molded article excellent in uniformity of drawing strength comprising a thermoplastic resin sheet provided with a functional member made of thermoplastic resin, as well as a process for efficiently producing the same.
The present inventors made extensive study for solving the problem of the prior art described above, and they have found that a thermoplastic resin-molded article comprising a thermoplastic resin functional member fused partially to a foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin shaped in a predetermined form shows lower variability of the drawing strength of the functional member from the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin, as well as a process for efficiently producing the same, thus arriving at the present invention.
That is, the present invention provides a thermoplastic resin-molded article comprising a thermoplastic resin functional member fused partially to a foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin shaped in a predetermined form. The thermoplastic resin-molded article thus constituted is excellent in uniformity of the drawing strength of the functional member from the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin, and further the functional member is fused without an adhesive to the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin, and thus this article has a less influence on the human body and environment.
In addition, the present invention provides a process for producing the above-described thermoplastic resin-molded article, comprising the following steps:
(1) feeding a foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin shaped in a predetermined form into between a pair of male and female mold halves, at least one mold half having in the molding surface a concave portion corresponding to the shape of the functional member;
(2) closing the mold halves, to stop the opening of said concave portion with the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin;
(3) feeding thermoplastic resin in a molten state to said concave portion through a resin passageway leading to said concave portion and provided in the mold halves, while the mold halves are closed to stop the opening of the concave portion with the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin, to fuse the thermoplastic resin integrally to the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin to form a thermoplastic resin-molded article; and
(4) cooling the thermoplastic resin-molded article formed in step (3) and removing it from the mold halves.
In addition, the present invention also provided a process for producing the above-described thermoplastic resin-molded article, comprising the following steps:
(1) heating and softening a foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin;
(2) feeding the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin softened in step (1) into between a pair of male and female mold halves having a molding portion for shaping the thermoplastic resin foamed sheet, at least one mold half having in the molding surface a concave portion corresponding to the shape of the functional member;
(3) closing the mold halves, to shape the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin in a predetermined form;
(4) feeding thermoplastic resin in a molten state to said concave portion through a resin passageway leading to said concave portion and provided in the mold halves, while the mold halves are closed to stop the opening of the concave portion with the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin shaped in step (3), to fuse the thermoplastic resin integrally to the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin to form a thermoplastic resin-molded article; and
(5) cooling the thermoplastic resin-molded article formed in step (4) and removing it from the mold halves.
In addition, the present invention further provided a process for producing the above-described thermoplastic resin-molded article, comprising the following steps:
(1) heating and softening a foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin;
(2) shaping the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin softened in step (1) in a predetermined shape by vacuum forming, pressure forming or vacuum pressure forming by use of either male mold half or female mold half or a pair of male and female mold halves having a molding portion for shaping the thermoplastic resin foamed sheet, at least one mold half having in the molding surface a concave portion corresponding to the shape of the functional member;
(3) feeding thermoplastic resin in a molten state to said concave portion through a resin passageway leading to said concave portion and provided in the mold halves, while the mold halves are closed to stop the opening of the concave portion with the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin shaped in step (2), to fuse the thermoplastic resin integrally to the foamed sheet made of thermoplastic resin to form a thermoplastic resin-molded article; and
(4) cooling the thermoplastic resin-molded article formed in step (3) and removing it from the mold halves.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word xe2x80x9ccomprisexe2x80x9d, and variations such as xe2x80x9ccomprisesxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccomprisingxe2x80x9d, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integer or step.